1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game system and a storage medium storing a game program, more particularly, relates to a game system for executing a sport game in which a player character and an opponent character rally an object to be hit, such as a ball, within a virtual game space, and a storage medium storing a game program.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, in a sport game or the like, a game in which a gage indicating a condition of a player character is set such that the player character can perform a special technique depending on the amount of gage has been devised (for example, see patent document 1 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-175282)). In a tennis game as disclosed in patent document 1, a gage indicates a mental or physical condition of a player, and the gage amount is increased or reduced based on the improvement or deterioration of the player's condition. When a necessary gage amount is accumulated, it is possible to cause the player character to perform a special technique which is stronger than a normal shot. In patent document 1, when a tennis player (player character) is mentally and physically up to the mark, the tennis player can make a strong shot, whereby a game player can experience the thrill peculiar to an actual sport and enjoy the game to the fullest.
Also, an example of a conventional game using a gage is disclosed in patent document 2 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-205171) and patent document 3 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-265859), for example. The patent document 2 discloses a tennis game, in which a gage having a shape according to a shot motion of a character is displayed for confirmation of the character's shot motion based on its shape. Also, the patent document 3 discloses a baseball game, in which a gage amount is increased, when a ball is caught in response to a depressing operation for a button by a game player, in accordance with a time elapsed after the depression of the button by the game player. The gage displays a plurality of lines, and the game apparatus controls where and how the ball is thrown depending on a line which the gage amount exceeds when the game player releases the depression of the button. This gage is used for displaying a player's depressing time of the button in an easily understood manner. Note that the games as disclosed in patent documents 2 and 3 employ a gage for a clearly visible display of a player's operation. However, this gage is not used as an index for causing a player character to perform a special action (i.e., above-described special technique).
In the game as disclosed in patent document 1, a gage amount is accumulated every time a criterion defined for each player character is satisfied. For example, a certain player character satisfies his/her criterion when getting a score by a specific shot. Such a criterion indicates a personal quality of each player character, but it is irrelevant to the game skill of the player. Thus, an experienced game player who is thoroughly familiar with such a criterion can accumulate a gage amount pretty quickly, and perform special technique at relatively frequent intervals. On the other hand, an inexperienced game player finds it difficult to perform a special technique due to the difficulty of accumulating a gage amount. That is, in the conventional game, due to the difficulty of performing a special technique, an inexperienced game player is not allowed to enjoy performing a special technique.